


Smokeflakes

by spuddypotat



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Overheating, Platonic Relationships, Snow, System Malfunction, Whump, basically the android equivalent to a fever, connor cant catch a break, hank cares for his robo-friend, i wrote this at ungodly hours of the night, idk how to tag this gjygjhjgff, kinda???, so ill just stop here, this is literally the first fanfic ive written and gotten all the way through, what can i say writing fanfic helps with insomnia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 05:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15679224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spuddypotat/pseuds/spuddypotat
Summary: Hank and Connor go for a walk in the snow... it doesn't really go as planned.





	Smokeflakes

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! this is my first fanfic, so i really have no clue what im doing. tbh, i just wrote this because i couldnt sleep. if anything seems ooc or just inaccurate in any way, blame it on sleep deprivation and lack of motivation. 
> 
> this is pretty messy, but i just wanted to get it out somewhere. i legit have this saved in my documents as "delete this" so dont expect it to be great

It wasn't exactly Connor's idea to take a walk in sub-freezing snowy weather, but Hank had wanted to show him the calm side of winter. 

Well, it was partly his idea. He'd mentioned once, after becoming deviant, that he wanted to experience snow without the looming sense of dread that came with his missions. Though, Hank could have picked a different day to do so. Before leaving the building, Connor checked the weather. It would be well below freezing that day, but Hank seemed somewhat excited, so Connor didn't say anything. After all, worrying hank about his well-being was the last thing he wanted to do. 

“So where are we going, lieutenant?” he asked as they walked into the snow-covered street. 

“Ahh, I was thinking I would show you one of my favourite places to see in weather like this.” This didn't give a lot of information, but Connor decided to just go with it. 

As they walked, Connor looked up at the sky. Through the thick falling snow, the grey clouds were barely visible. It gave the whole world an almost foggy appearance. Looking back down at the salt-stained roads, he noticed the sky and the road were almost the same hazy grey colour. 

The two continued to walk down the street, passing bare trees and warmly lit buildings to contrast the cold, silent tranquility of it all. There weren't many people on the streets, obviously because of the temperature. What few people he did see seemed to be in a rush to get out of the cold. This made Connor more than a little nervous, as he was reminded of the dangers of prolonged exposure to such low temperatures. 

He was an advanced model, but there were limits to what his mechanical body could withstand. For a brief moment, his LED flashed yellow as he thought about it. At this point, Connor was preoccupied and had no desire to speak, so the walk was silent. 

After about a half-mile of walking, Hank slowed to a stop at the entrance of a park. He turned towards the android, gesturing to the gate. “Lieutenant, isn't the park closed?” Connor asked. 

“No, it just looks like it. This place hardly gets touched from November to March. We pretty much have the whole place to ourselves,” Hank explained. Connor tentatively followed him through the gate and down a barely visible path to a bench. Dusting off the snow, Hank sat down, gazing at the clearing. Connor sat down and looked too. 

The clearing consisted of a large circular patch of grass with paths cutting it into quarters. Where the paths met in the center, there was a tiered fountain standing tall. Trees surrounded the main circle, and even though they were bare, it gave a sense of peace. Everything was covered by a thin layer of snow, which grew thicker with the silently falling snow. It was truly beautiful. The serenity of the silent park had distracted Connor of his fears for a moment, but that was stolen away from him as he felt something in his internal core. 

He hoped hank didn't see when the LED on his temple flashed yellow again, lingering longer than the last time before returning to blue. A warning popped into his head, briefly surrounding everything he could see and hear.  
WARNING: INTERNAL CORE AT RISK OF FREEZING. AUTOMATIC HEAT REGULATION INITIATED.  
After flickering a few times, the warning disappeared. As it faded away, Connor realized he had been squeezing his eyes shut. 

He quickly came up with a reason to leave, and said, “Lieutenant, I think we should be heading back soon. It is not advised to stay in such cold weather for prolonged periods of time.” 

Hank sighed. “Alright, alright. Just gimme a few more minutes.” Connor let out a shaky breath as quietly as possible and focused his gaze on the empty fountain. 

Soon enough, Hank stood back up. “Okay, since you seem to care too much about humans, we can go now. C’mon,” he said, waiting for Connor to join him. The android rose and followed a foot or so behind Hank. 

They were back on the sidewalk when Hank suddenly spoke. “Hey, you're really quiet today. What's up? System malfunction or something?” 

“No, I was just enjoying the peaceful weather,” Connor lied. 

“Huh, you're weird,” Hank said and continued to walk silently. The whole time they were walking, Connor could feel the heat building up around his core, confirming his fears. He knew that if he walked too fast his core would overheat. He contemplated asking hank to slow down, but he couldn't come up with a good enough reason why he would need to do that. A few moments after Hank had spoken, he felt something building up in his chest. He opened his mouth and a small puff of smoke escaped. 

Connor was alarmed by this, and his LED flickering to yellow, then to red for the briefest moment. He coughed, causing more smoke to escape. Hank turned around to make sure the android was okay, and Connor quickly closed his mouth. “What was that?” Hank asked. 

“Mm- nothing,” Connor said, trying to keep his speaking to a minimum. “Huh… didn't realize deviating also meant taking on weird human ticks...” Hank said. Connor gave a slight nod. Hank turned back around and continued walking. 

Soon, another warning popped into his head.  
WARNING: CORE OVERHEATING. PROBABILITY OF SHUTDOWN: 56%.  
An objective then filled his vision.  
GET TO A WARM PLACE.  
Connor's LED flashed yellow again, and a slightly larger cloud of smoke billowed from his mouth. He feverishly clasped a hand over his mouth to prevent more smoke from leaving. The wind direction would blow it towards Hank, and he didn't want to look suspicious. 

The meter in the corner of his display was a haunting reminder that he needed to get to warmth soon, as the probability crawled higher by the minute. By this point, the LED in his temple sustained a bright red colour. Eventually, there was too much smoke built up in his mouth and he had to cough again. Hank turned around again to see Connor nearly doubled over with both hands covering his mouth, stifling another cough. 

Before hank was able to react, Connor collapsed forward, landing on his knees. He felt so weak and helpless as the smoke poured out of his mouth, escaping through his fingers. “Woah, Woah, Woah! Connor, what's wrong?” Hank asked in a panicked tone. He quickly knelt down beside the android, pulling his body down to rest in his arms. By now the meter in Connor's view had gone up to 75%. 

“I'm… I'm overheating. M-my internal core was at risk of f...freezing. I have an automatic s-system that increases my body temperature, but it m...malfunctioned and c-caused me to ov...overheat,” Connor said, as smoke poured out of his mouth. 

“Why didn't you say anything?” Hank asked, sounding concerned and almost angry. 

“I d-didn't want you to worry, lieutenant,” Connor responded, finding it more and more difficult to speak as his body threatened to shut down. “You n-need to get me inside somewhere or i may be forced to temporarily s-shut down,” he said. 

“Well kid, you're lucky were close to the station. C'mon, let's go,” Hank said, lifting the android off of the ground with an arm across his shoulder. The two of them continued down the sidewalk, Connor leaning against hank, still siphoning off smoke. To any onlookers, it would be an extremely strange sight, but thankfully they didn't see any other people on their way back. 

By the time they reached the station, Connor could barely stand. Hank had to practically drag him to a bench near the wall. Obviously, people were staring, but neither of them cared at that point. 

Soon enough, Connor felt his internal temperature stabilize and his strength begin to return. Hank had left to do something (Connor wasn't sure; his memory at that point was pretty hazy), then returned to just nervously pace in front of the bench. The smoke slowed to a hiss, and Connor felt like he was actually able to speak again. He sat up. “I shouldn't be at risk of shutting down now. If I stay inside, I should be fine,” he said, trying to reassure the lieutenant, who finally stopped pacing and sat down next to Connor. 

“Why would you wait so long to tell me something was wrong? This wouldn't have happened if you had just said something,” hank pressed, sounding rather upset. 

Connor sighed. “Really, I just… I didn't want to worry you, lieutenant. Anything wrong with me would just add to your anxiety. I hope this doesn't upset you too much,” he said. 

“No, no, I just wish you would feel comfortable telling me things. I wanna be able to help you. You know Connor, you can trust me. If there's anything bothering you, don't hesitate to tell me, alright?” Hank said, his tone softening. 

“Of course. Thank you, hank,” Connor said, smiling a bit. It was good to know that someone cared for him. Hank smiled a bit too. 

“Wanna go get some cocoa?” Hank asked. 

Connor smiled wider. “yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> wow!! you made it to the end!! thanks so much for reading. 
> 
> kudos, comments, and suggestions on how i can improve would be greatly appreciated!!


End file.
